Baraga County seeking feedback on website

August 16, 2012

L'ANSE - Baraga County will soon have a new countywide website connecting government, businesses, tourism and more all in one place, but before the site is officially launched, the county is seeking feedback on the design and content.

Marquette-based Northern Initiatives designed the site, which is a four-way partnership between the Economic Development Corporation (paid $2,000 up front to NI), the Baraga County Chamber of Commerce (paid $500), the Baraga County Convention and Visitors Bureau (paid $500) and county government (paying ongoing $125 monthly maintenance fee).

"It seems to have gone really well and it's certainly been a great effort all the way around," said county treasurer Anne Koski, who has been on a website committee. "The main goal is for someone to be able to see everything we have to offer in one place."

The site is in "soft launch" mode now, meaning the site can be viewed with a username and password, but that it is still a work in progress and feedback is being collected.

To view the site, visit northerninitiatives.com/baraga and use the following login information:

The full site launch is tentatively set for four to five weeks from now, and the expected future address is baragacounty.org, which is now just the county government site.

"This site looks incredible," said Marquette city commissioner Jason Schneider, who facilitated a community forum Tuesday night at Baraga County Memorial Hospital where further feedback was collected on the site. "It's world's of improvement."

Schneider also suggested putting on a training session to make sure all businesses and entities represented on the site understand how to be involved. That session may coincide with the next county forum in about six weeks.

Businesses are encouraged to check their listing on the site to ensure accuracy, and any feedback can be shared to the email addresses listed above.

"Every business in the community will be represented," said Laurie Sterbenz from the chamber of commerce.

The site policy will allow enhanced listings (short description, external link inclusion) for businesses paying dues to the chamber of convention and visitors bureau. All other businesses will be provided a basic listing.

Another key feature to the new site will be a countywide master calendar. Policies related to the calendar as still being refined.

"We are still fine-tuning it," said Debbie Stouffer from the chamber of commerce.